CRICKET
Terrigal Matcham Cricket Club will soon be in possession of three new kits from Hart Sports Equipment thanks to $2,500 in funding from the Australian Sports Foundation’s (ASF) Active Kids Grants program.
Grants officer, Scott Cameron, said the club had been in desperate need of some new equipment for its junior cricketers.
“In the junior comps, when the kids are just starting out with their cricket, many won’t have their own gear,” he said.
“In the Under 11 and under 12 grades there might be kids who have never played but want to have a go at it.”
The club maintains gear to be used by children without their own equipment, but it “tends to get a bit tired”, Cameron said.
“When COVID first hit it became more difficult to share gear,” he said.
“It had to be thoroughly cleaned between uses and this made us realise we needed to supply more gear to make the kids feel safe and comfortable.”
Cameron said the club was trying to promote the game to more girls, with one Under 11s side playing this year and hopes next year to have two, increasing the need for extra gear.
“We want to raise awareness that girls play cricket too,” Cameron said.
The largest ever Active Kids Grants program saw almost $550,000 distributed to 144 sporting clubs around Australia to help support more than 27,000 kids.
Funded by The Dickinson Foundation, the program offered money for uniforms, equipment or a combination of the two for sporting club members aged up to 20.
Altogether, 24 different sports received funding, from water polo to archery, rowing to mountain biking and more mainstream sports such as tennis, rugby (league and union) and cricket.
Australian Sports Foundation CEO, Patrick Walker, said there were far more applications received than grants awarded.
“Unfortunately, the events of the past two years have had a devastating impact on community sporting clubs around Australia and have left young Australians in particular, without a vital outlet of physical activity and social connection,” Walker said.
“Every child deserves to have an active childhood but to make that a reality, we need to give clubs the means to start rebuilding their resources and programs.”
The Dickinson Foundation founder and director, David Dickinson said the organisation was committed to getting young Australians back to playing their favourite sports and supporting the recovery of community sports clubs from COVID-19.
“To this end we are calling for more individuals and organisations to come forward and help us fund future grant rounds so we can enable more and more youth participation in sport,” he said.
To discuss donating to the ASF to help community sport in Australia go to https://sportsfoundation.org.au/grants.
Youngsters interested in joining Terrigal Matcham Cricket Club can go to the website tmcricket.com or email emailsecretary@tmcricket.com.
Terry Collins